Franklin Falls

When we arrived at the trailhead shortly before noon, the road for a quarter mile was packed with cars. It made maneuvering past cars leaving the area a bit challenging, but it was good to see so many folks out enjoying a gorgeous summer day. We lucked out and found a spot just before the bridge.

We hiked to the falls on the new trail that mostly paralleled Denny Creek, and found it in great shape, although there were a few muddy spots. The falls were still running very full. As we inched around the final rock wall, we could see that there was no gravel bar to for our daughter to play in, and by the time we got within 50 yards, we were getting soaked from a medium-heavy rain.

After being thus refreshed, we turned around, and at the fork took the Wagon Road trail back to the trailhead, and are glad we did. While on the way up we passed (or were passed by) perhaps 50 other people, not a soul was on the Wagon Road trail. It was actually in better shape, a benefit of not being so near the creek. We had a great time stopping at each interpretive marker and guessing at the significance of each stop (there were no interpretive sheets at the trailhead).

One minor signage peeve: the trailhead sign said that the Wagon Road trail was 30 yards to the right...well, it was more like 50 yards, and across the road. What is actually at 30 yards is a dirt road leading up to several private cabins. I took the sign at its word, instead of searching for the wagon wheel which did indeed correctly mark the trailhead.